It’s a party ... and you are invited

Thursday

Apr 10, 2014 at 3:15 AM

By Susan PageSpecial to Showcase

Celebrate! The Rochester Opera House bursts with color with a festive Cinco de Mayo Fiesta at The Lottery Cocktail Party on Friday, May 2 at 5:30 p.m. Be part of this fun-filled fundraising event featuring hors d’oeuvres, cocktails, music, games and a live & silent auction plus the chance to win the $10,000 Grand Prize! Only 300 tickets are sold and the last ten lucky ticket holders split cash totaling $13,000.

Enjoy a fine evening of entertainment while supporting the arts at the historic Rochester Opera House. Funds raised during this event support operations and programming, which has tripled in the last four years. Today, the Rochester Opera House, built in 1908, is experiencing a renaissance; once again fulfilling the ideals set forth by City of Rochester officials, who commissioned architect George Gilman Adams to design a grand city hall/opera house combination, which “became a special object of civic pride, the very pulsating center of the community”. (New England Yankee Ingenuity by Professor Landis K. Magnuson for Theatre Design and Technology 1992).

Since 2008, this historic theater has grown by leaps and bounds; not only offering concerts by international and international artists, programming for families, children, teens and area school systems, but also establishing an in-house production company (ROH Productions) that contracts with two hundred fifty talented regional professional artists, directors, set designers, technicians and musicians. Several of these productions have won or have been nominated for awards by the Portsmouth Herald Spotlight Awards, including sixteen nominations for 2014 the awards.

In the past three years, ROH has produced several large-scale Theatre Series Broadway musicals, including Annie, Cabaret, Shout!, All Shook Up, The Great American Trailer Park Musical, Shrek and The Wizard of Oz (running from April 10-27). Since Adams designed ROH with a mechanism that raises or levels the orchestra floor, several of these productions are staged as flat-floor events with cocktail seating, allowing for a greater intimacy between actors and their audience. The flat floor also allows for the Dance Party Series where fans are encouraged to sing along and dance to their favorite music with bands like Dirty Deeds, Motor Booty Affair and the Bon Jovi Tribute Band, Bon Jersey (May 3). The floor goes up for a variety of concerts, plays and musicals like the Motown music celebration Motor City Fever (May 10) and the fantastic Doo Wop band, The Corvettes (May 31).

The main focus of ROH is development of programming for families and children. Contained in the Theatre Series are Family Theatre and Arts & Education shows like Freckleface Strawberry (May 25) and the Cat in the Hat (June 8), which are upbeat and fun, but also “teach” children positive life lessons. Summer Theatre Camp (June-August) extends the commitment to introducing young people to the joys of the performing arts and to the possibilities beyond their immediate world, so aptly expressed by eight year old Camp student Natalie, “When you go to shows, you can spend time with family and friends. It gives you entertainment that doesn’t melt your brain, as in, it’s not screen time.”

The Rochester Opera House holds a dual mission: to present enlightening, educational entertainment to the community and to preserve a historic theater, a legacy for future generations. As a not-for-profit organization, preservation is dependent on support from community businesses, corporations and individuals. When parents introduce their children to the wonders of the performing arts, the love and support for theater becomes generational. Camper Natalie represents such generational support, initiated by grandparents Pieter & Betty Jane Meulenbroek with continued support by parents Jeffrey and Molly Meulenbroek of Studley Flower Gardens through annual sponsorship and patronage. Echoing her daughter’s sentiments, Molly sees the Opera House “as an integral builder of community” and is delighted that her daughter “has found enrichment programs that excite her and bring her such joy.”

In the words of Rochester Mayor T.J. Jean, “The economic and cultural impact the Opera House provides to the City of Rochester is truly priceless. The potential of a thriving historic cultural arts center in the heart of our downtown is limitless.” The recent Arts & Economic Prosperity Study IV for the City of Rochester reports that “the typical arts attendee spends $24.60 per person, per event beyond the cost of admission.” This is strikingly apparent, when the downtown restaurants are bulging with diners before and after many ROH events. Spaulding Steak & Ale manager Robin Donovan reports that business nearly tripled on a Sunday, when Celtic Nights performed.

“Bob Marley was at the Opera House” was the response Rochester Main Street Director Mike Provost provided to the question, “What was going on Saturday night? There were no seats available in any of the restaurants.”

The Rochester Opera House is fortunate to have a strong partnership with the City of Rochester, an ever-growing base of patrons and a group of solid sponsors. But, as a not-for-profit organization, fundraising efforts, broadening sponsorships and donations are crucial to sustain operations, to expand programs and to support the “pulsating center of the community”.

We invite you to consider donating goods, services, gift certificates or gift baskets for this special evening. All donors are recognized in the program. You also might consider the purchase of a program ad. Donation/ad forms are available for download on RochesterOperaHouse.com or call (603) 332-2211 for more information. If you wish to become a sponsor for the upcoming 2014/2015 season, please contact Steve Dore at doretodore@metrocast.net.

Reserve your Lottery Cocktail Party ticket ($100 donation, admits two) online at RochesterOperaHouse.com, call (603) 335-1992 or stop by the ROH box office on M/W/F from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. For this event the floor is leveled (orchestra seats removed), so there’s lots of room for guests to mix and mingle. Rochester Opera House is located in City Hall, 31 Wakefield St., Rochester.